Col. Felipe Berroya, commander of the Army’s 701st Infantry Brigade, told The STAR yesterday the rebels fired on the 18 casualties and seven other soldiers after the dump truck they were riding hit a landmine on the way to the Cateel town proper.
"That was where we sent our troops in 60th Infantry Battalion which were then reinforced by 30th SF Company that provided the blocking forces," he said. "And when the 27th SF Company was about to join those soldiers who were already in Cateel, the rebels ambushed them in Barangay Aliwagwag."
The 25 soldiers were sent to Cateel from the nearby town of Caraga to reinforce troops pursuing NPA rebels who had set fire to four telecommunication relay stations in Mawab town in Compostela Valley, he added.
Berroya said seven soldiers led by one Army Lt. Paule returned fire with the overturned dump truck as cover and were able to kill 10 rebels during the ensuing firefight that lasted three hours.
"However, the rebels carried their dead comrades away as they fled following the arrival of Army reinforcements," he said.
At the Army headquarters at Fort Bonifacio in Makati City, spokesman Lt. Col. Jose Mabanta Jr. said the soldiers were about to enter Cateel town when they were met with gunfire from an undetermined number of communist rebels.
"These soldiers were about to link up with other government troops that earlier clashed with the rebels. The firefight lasted for about three hours," Mabanta said.
Six wounded soldiers, including an Army lieutenant, were taken from the scene of fighting and airlifted to a military hospital for treatment, while one soldier remained missing as yesterday afternoon.
The identities of the slain soldiers were not immediately released pending notification of their relatives.
Paule’s platoon was reportedly about four kilometers from the location of the 30th Special Forces Company led by Capt. Nasser Landasan, when they were ambushed.
The rebels were reportedly able to get 21 high-powered firearms from the soldiers.
After the fight, the NPA rebels retreated to different directions in the jungles, and government troops were still pursuing them as of last night.
Berroya said the ambush could be in retaliation for the killing of 15 rebels in an encounter between Army troops and NPA guerrillas in Nabuntiran town in Compostela Valley last Friday.
Troops launched an offensive against the NPA last week after the rebels set fire to the transmitter stations of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, Liberty Communications, Dole Phils. Inc., and Philippine Communications in Barangay Mahayahay in Mawab.
The rebels were said to have burned the relay stations in Mawab on Nov. 12 after the telecommunications companies failed to pay the so-called revolutionary taxes.
Berroya said four Army battalions, or about 2,000 troops, are now pursuing the rebels.
The government has warned that the NPA, the 11,600-member
armed wing of the underground Communist Party of the Philippines, is on the rebound as the military has been preoccupied with Muslim separatism elsewhere in Mindanao.
Peace talks between the communists and the government, scheduled in the Norwegian capital of Oslo, were suspended after the rebels assassinated two legislators earlier this year.
The victims were said to have been singled out for having allegedly committed "crimes against the people," one of them even being a known torturer during the martial law years.
The death of long-time rebel negotiator and consultant Antonio Zumel was also seen as a setback to the peace dialogue.
The communist rebellion was launched in 1969. Military successes and factionalism reduced its armed strength to about 6,000 guerrillas in the early 1990s, but the movement has since taken its struggle to other fronts, such as the political mainstream. — With Christina Mendez